'Astronauts are always taking plants up with them in their personal gear. Some carry terrarium balls, and the Russians grow onions in baggies. They want so badly to have something green and something fresh in their diet," explains botanist Terri Lomax, director of NASA's Fundamental Space Biology Division. "Every single astronaut I've talked to has told me they want plants with them up there."

Actually, if space travelers are going to be sent on long-duration missions, they won't be forced to hide seeds and bulbs in their pressure-suit pockets. The farther out we venture, the more expensive it is to resupply the missions, so space farms will be an integral part of the life-support systems in spacecraft and planetary colonies.
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